A crowd gathered to greet the first train to arrive in Santa Barbara on August 19, 1887. Photo: Santa Barbara Public Library, Edson Smith Photo Collection no. 43

2,500 historic photos from Santa Barbara Public Library’s archive were recently scanned and uploaded for the public to explore. The images date from the mid-1800s and depict all corners of Santa Barbara life.

Once you’ve entered the United States through Los Angeles a few times, the city starts to hold less appeal than it might for a first-time visitor. Accommodation in L.A. also tends to be expensive, which is another deterrent to a stopover there. But hopping on another flight after the 14-hour flight from Australia is the last thing we want to do. So, on the last few occasions that we’ve flown into L.A. we’ve taken to exploring some of the lovely places within a few hours’ drive of the city, places like Solvang, Ojai and most recently, Santa Barbara. The beauty of Santa Barbara, as we discovered, is that you don’t even need a car to get there. The FlyAway bus from LAX takes you straight to L.A.’s Union Station, from where you can hop on an Amtrak train that delivers you to Santa Barbara in two and a half hours.